Answer
The noun crypto refers to “a person who adheres or belongs secretly to a party, sect, or other group” (Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, Inc., 2003). Crypto is also an adjective meaning “hidden, not openly avowed or declared.” The original crypto-Christians were Jewish believers who secretly considered themselves followers of Christ but still practiced Judaism and attended the synagogue.
Some Bible scholars consider Nicodemus to be a classic example of a crypto-Christian. Nicodemus was an influential member of the Pharisees, one of Israel’s two ruling religious sects (the Sadducees and Pharisees). The Pharisees were meticulous in their adherence to Jewish law. Many Pharisees openly opposed Jesus, but Nicodemus rightly perceived Him as “a teacher come from God” (John 3:2, ESV). Nicodemus visited Jesus by the cover of night, seeking honest answers from Him and learning about his need to be born again (see John 3:1–21). Later, Nicodemus defended Jesus before the chief priests and fellow Pharisees, who wanted to have Jesus arrested (see John 7:40–52).
Nicodemus was also present at Christ’s crucifixion and burial along with “Joseph of Arimathea, who had been a secret disciple of Jesus (because he feared the Jewish leaders)” (John 19:38–39, NLT). These two potentially prototypical crypto-Christians took Jesus’ body down from the cross and gave Him a proper burial. Nicodemus provided an extravagant amount of myrrh and aloe ointment—enough to bury a king (see John 19:38–42).
Throughout history, severe persecution of Christians has led to the formation of various secretive groups and underground movements of crypto-Christians. Crypto-Protestantism is a phenomenon that arose predominantly during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries in the Roman Catholic Church. Individuals or groups of believers secretly held to Protestant beliefs and practices while outwardly professing to be Roman Catholics. They did this to avoid excommunication, imprisonment, or execution.
A crypto-Calvinist refers to someone who is secretly a Calvinist. In the sixteenth century, orthodox Lutherans used this term to disparage those who broke with Martin Luther’s dogmatic teachings (especially about the Eucharist) to follow the more Calvinist-leaning views of Lutheran Reformer Philip Melanchthon (1497—1560).
Today, thousands of crypto-Christians, or Kakure Kirishitan (“hidden Christians”), exist in remote areas of the Buddhist/Shinto nation of Japan. They are secret survivors of a once-thriving Christian community founded by Jesuit missionaries in 1549. Eventually, the Roman Catholic church’s presence was violently eradicated in 1680 through a brutal persecution campaign led by the Japanese warlord Hideyoshi. Under his rule, even the slightest hint of Christian devotion could lead to execution. Still, these secret Christian communities managed to endure and preserve many traditional elements of their faith to this day.
Some estimate that millions of crypto-Christians are surviving today in areas ruled by militant atheist regimes. In many countries, such as Libya, Afghanistan, Yemen, Somalia, and North Korea, it is a crime often punishable by torture and death to follow Jesus. Christians in these nations hide their true convictions to stay alive and to continue leading others to faith in Christ.
Jesus Himself hid to escape being stoned to death (John 8:59). The Bible seems to support the clandestine activity of believers in some passages (see Hebrews 11:23; Joshua 2:6; cf. Hebrews 11:31; 1 Kings 18:4) yet seems to condemn it in others (John 12:42). In the latter case, the believers were hiding their faith for prideful, selfish reasons, “for they loved human praise more than praise from God” (John 12:42–43).
God sometimes calls Christians to honor the Lord by dying for their convictions. John the Baptist (Matthew 14:10–12), Stephen (Acts 7:58), James (Acts 12:2), and Peter (John 21:18–19) all provide biblical evidence. However, other believers have been and continue to be led by the Lord (and for His purpose) to hide from persecution as crypto-Christians.
